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Tuesday, 11 March 2008

To accompany the reissue of Nurse With Wound’s “Man With The Woman Face” album a CD of bonus material is included. The bonus material CD is available to buy as a separate item so those who already purchased the World Serpent edition in 2002 don’t have to buy the album all over again.

The bonus material consists of three tracks. One remix, one unreleased piece and a home demo. The first piece “Beware The African Mosquito” (Blue Lacuna mix) is not a million miles away from the mix on the main album. It’s a very ambient piece with a rising and falling keyboard chord as it’s anchor as other elements (percussive, rhythmic, vocal, steam, etc come and go). and some insect/buzzing sounds that pan left to right nicely through the piece It reminds me a lot of Spiral Insana era Nurse or bits of Rock n Roll Station. It’s got a nice warmth to it.

Track two “Camel Be Air” is the previously unreleased piece. Whereas the other two tracks are by Steven Stapleton and Colin Potter this one has the addition of Peat Bog, Dave Andrews and Little Annie. It starts as a more brooding track than the first, darker but still in an ambient sort of way. The instrumentation begins by sounding very much like there’s a lot of bowed strings going on and some low in the mix guttural sounds. About five minutes in to this primeval sound a rhythm starts with a slow bass line shadowing it almost giving the track a lounge or easy listening feel. Add in a bit of sax the odd flute note, the odd harmonic from a guitar string and occasionally Little Annie’s voice and you get what the whole piece has been building up to…..

Track three is the home demo of “White Light From The Stars In Your Mind.” Being a demo this isn’t too different in its basic ideas and sounds from the final version. It’s very much a stripped down version of the finished idea. It sets off with a drum rhythm not that unlike the one in Swamp Rat and some vocals that often repeat the title of the track in sped up or slowed down recordings. And that is more or less how it continues. There are other sounds making a brief and undistinguished appearance here and there but as I’ve already said it’s very much a stripped down version of the real deal. The low level keyboard chord that runs through the final track is noticeably missing as are the other little NWW trade marks that you get with the version on the proper album. Good perhaps to listen to from a perspective of getting an idea of how a NWW track starts off its journey but a long way from being the magnificent piece it finally became.

Worth putting your hand in your pocket for, the first two tracks are certainly classic style Nurse tracks. The third is perhaps only for obsessives. But then I guess most NWW fans are obsessives.

About Me

London born male now living and working in West Sussex as an IT Engineer. In my spare time I dabble in magazine writing (www.progress-report.co.uk) and occasionally put out the odd CD or record (www.irrational-arts.co.uk).